How to avoid dead front room syndrome

What happens to your living room if your new extension has a sofa in it?

Ten top tips on how to avoid a redundant room:

1. Don’t waste valuable space.

2. Give this room as much thought as you gave the new extension.

3. Older houses have a front and back room, 2 primary living spaces.

4. An extension at the back of the house typically combines kitchen, living and dining room. The area everyone hangs out.

5. Don’t close the front room off from the rest of the house, open up the whole of the downstairs living space giving a view from front to back

6. Openings do not have to be huge, but more than one way of entering the room will make it more usable.

7. One risk is that it will feel like one vast room, to avoid this zone and consider replacing a wall with double doors that you can have open or closed.

8. Don’t think of it as an open plan, but a series of interconnected spaces for different living needs.

9. Start with the middle room, put the kitchen in the centre section with the dining room at the back and the living area at the front.

10. This ensures all areas will be used equally and the house will have a feeling of balance.